beatrice_otter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beatrice_otter) wrote2006-08-29 09:51 am
beatrice_otter) wrote2006-08-29 09:51 am
Christmas in August
Well, the bad news is that my grandparents have to move to a retirement home. While we would obviously prefer that they stayed in good health and continued to live out at the farm, that's just not possible anymore. And, being the responsible people that they are, they're cleaning out their house now and divvying up posessions they can't take with them so that we don't have a huge problem once they're dead, and are just delighted to see things go out the door because it means one less thing they have to deal with themselves. Last night we went down to pick up a load. Now, the thing you have to know about our family is that we are all, every single one of us, huge bookworms. Huge. Voracious readers, we devour books. My first sentence, at 18 months old, was "I go read." At one point last night, Mom, Grandma and I just opened up and started reciting a poem together for fun. Anyway, one of my uncles had been there the night before to pick up a load of furniture and other items that were going to him a few days ago, but when we arrived yesterday, we were the first people to get there since Grandma and Granddad finished going through their books and picking out which ones to take with them. And the books were not specifically divided up to go to anyone. We got first pick! Bwahahaha. Excellent. Picture much glee on our part, as we sorted through them. Oh, yeah. We came home with several boxes full, but don't worry, we left plenty for the rest of the family (there are a lot to go around).
Also got some nice china, some table linens, and an antique rocker, and several other items either valuable or with emotional resonance were left because we didn't have the space to bring them home yesterday (because, you know, boxes of books! Cool books!). And, really, the china and rocker are gorgeous, and it's great that we have them in our family. But they're mom and dad's, now, and will be for quite some time. The books? A significant portion of them are mine, mine, mine! (My brother, Nels, wasn't there to pick out any because he's away in the Navy, but he rates lowest on the bookivore scale in the family anyway, although that's not saying much in our family. But he got Grandad's collection of WWII stuff, so he has no room to complain.)
Also got some nice china, some table linens, and an antique rocker, and several other items either valuable or with emotional resonance were left because we didn't have the space to bring them home yesterday (because, you know, boxes of books! Cool books!). And, really, the china and rocker are gorgeous, and it's great that we have them in our family. But they're mom and dad's, now, and will be for quite some time. The books? A significant portion of them are mine, mine, mine! (My brother, Nels, wasn't there to pick out any because he's away in the Navy, but he rates lowest on the bookivore scale in the family anyway, although that's not saying much in our family. But he got Grandad's collection of WWII stuff, so he has no room to complain.)